Google has almost closed a deal to acquire YouTube for $1.6 billion in stock and the deal could happen as soon as this afternoon, according to both the Wall Street Journal and the New York Times’ Dealbook blog.
The details:
- Deal could be announced after the closing bell today, but the deal could still fall apart
- An initial offer from Google was rebuffed for being too low
- YouTube will retain a significant amount of independence, including its brand and offices
- YouTube’s content deals this morning with Universal and CBS are a prelude to the deal with Google
- Deal would be largest in Google’s history
- Discussions have only been on for a week, coincides with Hurley’s visit to Mountain View last week
- Other suitors were News Corp. and Yahoo
In other news, my head just exploded.
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